Egypt: Amnesty releases damning report a day after policemen were jailed for killing detainee

Six policemen were sentenced to between three and seven years on Tuesday for beating a man to death under detention in a police station in Luxor in southern Egypt.

One policeman was sentenced to seven years and the other five were given three-year sentences by a court in Qena in southern Egypt for causing death by beating and cruel acts, a judicial official told AFP.

Seven police officers were also acquitted in the same trial, the source added.

The case dates back to November 2015 when a man arrested for unknown reasons in a cafe in Luxor and was beaten fatally in the police station.

According to the report of the forensic experts, the 47-year-old victim was beaten so violently on the neck and back breaking his spine.

In early April, a police officer was sentenced to life in prison for shooting dead a driver after an argument. Last year, several police officers were arrested for deadly violence against detainees.

Many criticisms from international and Egyptian NGOs have been directed at the Egyptian government for the disappearance of opposition members as well as torture and fatal beatings by security agencies.

Amnesty International’s report on brutal repression

Amnesty International on Wednesday released a report calling on the international community to put pressure on Egyptian authorities to stop these violations.

“Enforced disappearances have become a key instrument in the state policy of Egypt. Anyone who dares express criticism is in danger,” Amnesty explains in the report accusing the police of using these methods to intimidate opponents and eliminate the peaceful protest.

The report presented 17 individual cases including five minors who were detained incommunicado for up to several days to several months.

It cited the case of 14-year-old Mazen Mohamed Abdallah who suffered very serious violence in September 2015. “He has been violated several times with a stick so that he makes a false confession,” the organization said.

Asher Mohamed, another teenager was also 14 years old at the time of his arrest in January, and was beaten, received electric shocks all over his body and was suspended by his arms and legs so that he confesses, they added.

The Egyptian authorities have regularly denied using torture and only recognized isolated incidents bringing perpetrators to book.

The National Council for Human Rights, a state body, announced in early July that they have identified 266 cases of enforced disappearances linked to the Interior Ministry between April 2015 and March 2016.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who deposed in 2013 the Islamist Mohamed Morsi recently asked the police to show restraint after several cases of brutal deaths in police stations.